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Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 172,000 in May 2026

June 12, 2026

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 172,000 in May 2026, similar to the gain of 179,000 in April. In May, job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, local government, and health care. Employment in financial activities declined.

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Chart Data

Employment change by industry, May 2026, seasonally adjusted
Industry	1-month net change
Mining and logging	4,000
Logging	-500
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction	4,800
Oil and gas extraction	100
Mining (except oil and gas)	1,600
Coal mining	0
Metal ore mining	0
Nonmetallic mineral mining and quarrying	1,600
Support activities for mining	3,100
Construction	17,000
Construction of buildings	0
Residential building construction	-1,700
Nonresidential building construction	1,700
Heavy and civil engineering construction	2,600
Specialty trade contractors	14,000
Residential specialty trade contractors	2,600
Nonresidential specialty trade contractors	11,400
Manufacturing	7,000
Durable goods	17,000
Wood product manufacturing	-1,900
Nonmetallic mineral product manufacturing	800
Primary metal manufacturing	1,100
Fabricated metal product manufacturing	6,700
Machinery manufacturing	1,100
Computer and electronic product manufacturing	900
Computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing	400
Communications equipment manufacturing	100
Semiconductor and other electronic component manufacturing	-700
Navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments manufacturing	1,200
Manufacturing and reproducing magnetic and optical media and audio and video equipment manufacturing	-100
Electrical equipment, appliance, and component manufacturing	1,300
Transportation equipment manufacturing	4,900
Motor vehicles and parts	3,600
Furniture and related product manufacturing	-1,000
Miscellaneous manufacturing	3,000
Nondurable goods	-10,000
Food manufacturing	-3,600
Textile mills	-500
Textile product mills	-700
Apparel manufacturing	-400
Paper manufacturing	-200
Printing and related support activities	400
Petroleum and coal products manufacturing	600
Chemical manufacturing	1,200
Plastics and rubber products manufacturing	-6,100
Beverage, tobacco, and leather and allied product manufacturing	-900
Wholesale trade	-3,700
Merchant wholesalers, durable goods	-2,700
Merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods	2,700
Wholesale trade agents and brokers	-3,700
Retail trade	-1,100
Motor vehicle and parts dealers	-1,300
Automobile dealers	-2,100
Other motor vehicle dealers	600
Automotive parts, accessories, and tire retailers	200
Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers	5,600
Food and beverage retailers	-3,000
Furniture, home furnishings, electronics, and appliance retailers	-1,600
General merchandise retailers	-8,200
Health and personal care retailers	2,200
Gasoline stations and fuel dealers	4,400
Clothing, clothing accessories, shoe, and jewelry retailers	-2,500
Sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, book, and miscellaneous retailers	3,300
Transportation and warehousing	600
Air transportation	-8,700
Rail transportation	200
Water transportation	-1,300
Truck transportation	-4,400
Transit and ground passenger transportation	9,400
Pipeline transportation	200
Scenic and sightseeing transportation	200
Support activities for transportation	-2,800
Couriers and messengers	1,400
Warehousing and storage	6,400
Utilities	1,400
Information	-2,000
Motion picture and sound recording industries	-2,700
Publishing industries	-100
Broadcasting and content providers	-4,000
Telecommunications	-400
Computing infrastructure providers, data processing, web hosting, and related services	3,700
Web search portals, libraries, archives, and other information services	900
Financial activities	-22,000
Finance and insurance	-20,200
Monetary authorities-central bank	-100
Credit intermediation and related activities	-4,800
Depository credit intermediation	-3,200
Commercial banking	-2,600
Nondepository credit intermediation	-3,000
Activities related to credit intermediation	1,400
Securities, commodity contracts, funds, trusts, and other financial vehicles, investments, and related activities	-4,600
Insurance carriers and related activities	-10,700
Real estate and rental and leasing	-1,600
Real estate	-2,500
Rental and leasing services	1,100
Lessors of nonfinancial intangible assets (except copyrighted works)	-200
Professional and business services	6,000
Professional, scientific, and technical services	1,600
Legal services	1,200
Accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping, and payroll services	-5,400
Architectural, engineering, and related services	1,700
Specialized design services	-700
Computer systems design and related services	1,700
Management, scientific, and technical consulting services	-3,500
Scientific research and development services	900
Advertising, public relations, and related services	1,700
Other professional, scientific, and technical services	4,000
Management of companies and enterprises	2,900
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services	1,400
Administrative and support services	200
Office administrative services	1,000
Facilities support services	300
Employment services	3,600
Temporary help services	1,400
Business support services	-2,300
Travel arrangement and reservation services	800
Investigation and security services	-2,300
Services to buildings and dwellings	-2,100
Other support services	1,200
Waste management and remediation services	1,200
Private education and health services	40,000
Private educational services	-6,600
Health care	35,200
Ambulatory health care services	25,700
Offices of physicians	4,700
Offices of dentists	1,600
Offices of other health practitioners	2,700
Outpatient care centers	1,100
Medical and diagnostic laboratories	1,800
Home health care services	10,900
Other ambulatory health care services	2,900
Hospitals	6,000
Nursing and residential care facilities	3,500
Skilled nursing care facilities	-100
Residential intellectual and developmental disability, mental health, and substance abuse facilities	-1,400
Continuing care retirement communities and assisted living facilities for the elderly	4,100
Other residential care facilities	900
Social assistance	12,000
Individual and family services	9,600
Community food and housing, and emergency and other relief services	900
Vocational rehabilitation services	2,400
Child care services	-900
Leisure and hospitality	70,000
Arts, entertainment, and recreation	11,700
Performing arts, spectator sports, and related industries	6,700
Museums, historical sites, and similar institutions	700
Amusement, gambling, and recreation industries	4,300
Accommodation and food services	58,600
Accommodation	10,600
Food services and drinking places	48,000
Other services	3,000
Repair and maintenance	0
Personal and laundry services	3,600
Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional, and similar organizations	-1,100
Government	52,000
Federal	1,000
Federal, except U.S. Postal Service	-2,600
U.S. Postal Service	2,900
State government	-4,000
State government education	-10,800
State government, excluding education	6,400
Local government	55,000
Local government education	12,100
Local government, excluding education	43,500
Note: Data may not sum to published totals due to rounding.

Leisure and hospitality added 70,000 jobs in May, well above the average monthly gain of 14,000 over the prior 12 months. Over the month, food services and drinking places added 48,000 jobs.

In May, employment in local government rose by 55,000, largely reflecting a gain in local government, excluding education (+44,000).

Health care added 35,000 jobs in May, in line with the average monthly gain of 38,000 over the prior 12 months. Over the month, ambulatory health care services added 26,000 jobs, including a gain of 11,000 in home health care services. Employment continued to trend up in hospitals (+6,000).

Financial activities employment declined by 22,000 in May and was down by 107,000 since its recent peak one year ago. Over the month, job losses occurred in insurance carriers and related activities (−11,000) and commercial banking (−3,000).

Employment showed little change over the month in other major industries, including construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade, retail trade, information, professional and business services, and other services.

These data are from the Current Employment Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. The most recent two months are preliminary. To learn more, see "The Employment Situation — May 2026." Also see more charts of national employment, hours, and earnings data.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 172,000 in May 2026 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2026/total-nonfarm-payroll-employment-increased-by-172000-in-may-2026.htm (visited June 13, 2026).

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